Thailand - Our final few days

Waking up on our second to last full day, also happened to be my birthday. We like going away for my birthday. I particularly like the fact that I’m not expected to host everyone at my house to celebrate getting old.  Plus I can drink cocktails that someone else has made and everybody gets to celebrate the Festival of Me.

We had a cool day out planned that we had booked online when we first arrived. We were off on the afternoon Elephant Jungle Sanctuary adventure.  Not my usual choice of activity as I am scared of everything, including enormous animals, but I have vowed to be braver, so brave I would be.

I was pleasantly surprised by the hotel delivering coffee and croissants first thing. Which didn’t stop us from also having our usual breakfast, the difference being that there are no calories in food on your birthday, so in addition to my usual unusual smorgasbord of curry and sushi with a side of bacon, I threw some pancakes and maple syrup into the mix. Unfortunately, this resulted in a huge wave of nausea flowing over me. I’d woken up definitely not feeling myself. So much so that straight after breakfast I went back to bed for a nap and fell deeply asleep. I woke up feeling better, but not 100%. But I was excited for the elephants and convinced I’d feel better once up and about.

You book the elephant jungle sanctuary online and they pick you up from right outside your hotel. So there were a few others to collect en route before setting off for about a 30 minute journey away from Pattaya to the sanctuary. You are part of a relatively small sized group which means there’s plenty of opportunity to hang with the elephants. There’s a thorough health and safety briefing before you don a traditional tunic and then get amongst it. We started with feeding them. True to form I was absolutely terrified, but the elephant handlers are awesome and help you relax and are on hand to take pictures. Additionally, they take professional photos that are free to download off their Facebook page a few days later. After feeding the elephants we helped prepare their vitamin supplement bombs and distribute them. From there it was off to the “ponds” to bath the elephants. This starts with a good old mud pack. The Favourite Husband got right in there, up close and personal. He was absolutely loving it. I was still wary, but pushed myself to get involved. It was fun. I’m not sure if I enjoyed scooping the water over the elephant as much as I did soaking the person on the other side, but it was a good time all the same.

The sanctuary is set in 500 acres and the elephants roam free to a degree.  They seem very well cared for and many stay here to be nurtured back to full health from less enjoyable environments.  There are no elephant rides here and the keepers obviously really love these majestic animals.  It’s really well organised and we found it to be good value for money for what you get.

After bathing the elephants you get to have a hot shower and change into your spare clothes. Then you have the most amazing lunch of curries and rice and dessert. We weren’t expecting so much during the activity, it was awesome. The final activity was making paper out of elephant dung which was fun too. Then it was back in the minibuses to be dropped off at your hotel. An excellent day.

We opted for dinner in the hotel with some birthday margaritas. Apart from a persistent headache I was definitely feeling better. So much so that I decided to stay up and watch the UEFA cup which was on at 1am. I didn’t make it past the first half before crawling into bed.

And suddenly it was our last day. I was exhausted and still had the headache so we stayed close to the hotel, got some painkillers (which did nothing) and shopped up a storm in the mall. We had dinner at one of the outside food markets that was cheap and excellent. And then, finally, a Thai massage. The Favourite Husband went with a foot massage and I went with a head massage. Never before and never since have I been able to find the equivalent of this head massage. It was the most glorious of experiences ever. Soothing warm oil poured on my head. Massage and combing and just absolute exquisiteness. It was Chan Health Massage and Spa and clearly everyone knew how good it was as they were turning people away when we left. What it didn’t do, sadly, was get rid of my darn headache. Because after a horrific flight feeling really unwell, it turned out I had Covid!

Thailand has been a blast. We want to return and see more of the country.

Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Pattaya

Chan Massage and Health Spa